SERICORNIS OSCULANS, Gould.
Allied Sericornis.
Sericomis osculans, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., January 27, 1847.
T h e Sericornis osculans inhabits South Australia, where it frequents underwoods and scrubby places, the
bottom o f dry water-courses, gulleys, & c .; it is naturally shy and retiring in its habits, and evades pursuit
by creeping beneath the herbage and making its exit on the other side. It is most nearly allied to the
S. frontalis, and is intermediate in size between that species and the S. humilis ; from the former it differs in
having at all times numerous longitudinal blotches o f black on the throat, and from the latter in these
spots being much more distinct than in that species. I have seen specimens in which the yellow tint which
pervades the centre of the abdomen has given place to grey or greyish white, as shown in the centre figure
of the accompanying Plate; but I have never found the tail tipped with white, as in S. maculata and
S. lamgaster.
The sexes present the usual characteristic o f the genus, in the absence of any black mark on the lores of
the female, which are similar to the other parts of the body.
All the upper surface, wings and tail dark brown, all but the two centre feathers of the latter crossed by
an obscure band of black near the extremity; spurious wing-feathers black, margined with white; lores
black, above which on each side a patch of white, continued in a fine line over the e y e ; throat and centre of
the abdomen greyish white in some and yellowish white in others, marked with a few oblong black spots on
the throat.
The female is somewhat smaller in size, and has the lores brown instead o f black.
The figures represent two males and a female o f the natural size, the upper figure being that o f the
female.